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Topic: Broadfield House to Close (Read 126883 times)

Petition now has over 750 signatures. Which is great, but if you look at this page and the most popular, we are a long way off!

I know that many of the signatories are there because someone has forwarded on an email from someone else - and that's great, but we really need to get everyone we can doing it because only then will it become "viral" and really surge in numbers.

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Hello & Welcome to the Board! Sometimes my replies are short & succinct, other times lengthy. Apologies in advance if they are not to your satisfaction; my main concern is to be accurate for posterity & to share my limited knowledgeFor information on exhibitions & events and to see images of my new work join my Facebook grouphttps://www.facebook.com/adamaaronsonglassIntroduction to Glassblowing course:a great way to spend an afternoon http://www.zestgallery.com/glass.

Just a heads up to prevent anyone being confused by the similarity of names...

This is a different Broadfield House in Crawley in Sussex which has been in the press re proposed redevelopment - this is not the threatened museum - the museum is in Dudley West Midlands. I read the story with a jolt earlier tonight until I realised it's not the same building. Quite a co-incidence there being two Broadfield Houses and both being Grade 2 listed buildings.

"Scotland has now lost its historic glass display in its NationalMuseum, the Edinburgh city museum has closed its display. Broadfieldis the last remaining major centre outside London and should not belost! I have a small collection of glass I was planning to leave toBroadfield and will now have to be satisfied that anything you now dois of sufficiently high and wide ranging standards to merit suchpatronage!"

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Hello & Welcome to the Board! Sometimes my replies are short & succinct, other times lengthy. Apologies in advance if they are not to your satisfaction; my main concern is to be accurate for posterity & to share my limited knowledgeFor information on exhibitions & events and to see images of my new work join my Facebook grouphttps://www.facebook.com/adamaaronsonglassIntroduction to Glassblowing course:a great way to spend an afternoon http://www.zestgallery.com/glass.

Hello & Welcome to the Board! Sometimes my replies are short & succinct, other times lengthy. Apologies in advance if they are not to your satisfaction; my main concern is to be accurate for posterity & to share my limited knowledgeFor information on exhibitions & events and to see images of my new work join my Facebook grouphttps://www.facebook.com/adamaaronsonglassIntroduction to Glassblowing course:a great way to spend an afternoon http://www.zestgallery.com/glass.

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"I have called for a study on the feasibility of moving the collections and housing them in the Glass Quarter at The Red House Cone"

Would you be kind enough to indicate who will be responsible for preparing this study?

Can you confirm whether this will be an external study by an independent consultant and that the public will have access to the report well in time before any decision is taken by the Council?

I should very much appreciate it if you could forward a copy of the briefing document that sets out the scope and terms of reference of this study as well as the time-scale for its completion and publication.

Thank you very much.

Regards

Adam Aaronson FRSA

This evening I received the following reply:

Dear Mr Aaronson

Thank you for your further e-mail. I am sure you will appreciate that this issue has led to a significant amount of mail and since I donâ€™t have direct access to secretarial services I will have to keep my reply brief.

In response to your specific questions:

The Directorate of the Urban Environment will be responsible for commissioning the study.

The first stage will be a scoping exercise to determine the range of options available. This will, I hope, set upper and lower limits for the aspiration to relocate the Glass Museum within the Glass Quarter. The fall back position has already been determined in that if an improved display facility with better public access (including disabled access) cannot be created, then the Museum will remain at Broadfield House.

There will then be a need to set out the terms of reference for the feasibility study. It is likely that this will be undertaken by a professional in the field but who this will be has not yet been determined.

It is envisaged that the study itself will engage all of the organisations and groups who have shown their interest in the future of the Museum and I expect there to be a substantial amount of public consultation throughout the process.

From what I have already said, you will appreciate I am not in a position to forward a copy of the briefing document you refer to, since we are only in the early stages of developing it. The studyâ€™s completion and publication dates will also be identified as part of this process.

One thing I can assure you of, is that the details of whatever comes from this feasibility study will be in the public domain long before a final decision is made. I also expect that the Select Committee on Regeneration, Culture and Adult Education will be receiving regular reports throughout the process.

I would hope that we will be able to develop a plan and receive â€˜buy inâ€™ from all interested parties. Of course it will not be possible to please everyone, but I see this as very much a joint venture between the Council, the residents of the Borough and those who have a special interest in our Glass Heritage.

On this basis, I look forward to working with you and others to bring the passion, knowledge and genuine concern that has been shown, together to create a Glass Museum which is truly deserving of its international reputation.

I certainly think that this is a very constructive reply but as with all these things I shall be reading it carefully a few times before responding.

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Hello & Welcome to the Board! Sometimes my replies are short & succinct, other times lengthy. Apologies in advance if they are not to your satisfaction; my main concern is to be accurate for posterity & to share my limited knowledgeFor information on exhibitions & events and to see images of my new work join my Facebook grouphttps://www.facebook.com/adamaaronsonglassIntroduction to Glassblowing course:a great way to spend an afternoon http://www.zestgallery.com/glass.

I also got a response this evening from Karen Shakespeare to various emails I have written:

Dear Mr Cooley,

Please accept my apologies for not replying personally earlier. I did see the response you received from Cllr. Jones and felt that he had more than adequately addressed your concerns and I fully endorsed his statements. I hope you will appreciate that as Councillors we are not well equipped to deal with large volumes of correspondence and this issue has generated an enormous amount which I am trying my best to deal with.

With reference to your other e-mail regarding the promotion of the Museums service. Yes, I can see it looks a little ironic. However, the sentiment behind it is genuine, we are proud of our Museums and we have increased investment in them in recent years and we do want to encourage more people to visit them.

With regard to your most recent e-mail concerning the supplementary planning document, it is an important process in itself, regardless of the outcome of the Broadfield House study. Planning guidance underlies the decision making process for all planning applications and by clearly identifying the area of the Glass Quarter will allow the Council to exercise greater control over inappropriate development. I am sure you can see the benefit of this in terms of making the most of the heritage we have in this area.

Thank you for your email, which is very helpful. I did ask you some other question in my email on 28th Jan which was in response to your letter stating:

"I see this very much as an opportunity to enhance and improve the services provided to visitors and glass enthusiasts, set in the context of how the traditional glass was produced and I want to be certain that this can be achieved before any decisions are taken."

Does this mean that the budgetary decision regarding Broadfield house has not been made already?When your committee discusses the funding of Broadfield House is it a seperate item on the agenda?Are all the councillors fully aware of the implications of their decision?

The key here is that:

The date for the closure of Broadfield house is removed from the documentsThe budget supports the museum (or an improved museum) on an ongoing basis